The Betrayer
by AshZaku
Summary: He betrayed his Kingdom, and was betrayed himself. Now, he will have his revenge.
1. Chapter 1

The Betrayer

The man sat in his cold, dark cell, hunched together, looking over the board.

_ So cold...how long has it been now? It must be close to 3 weeks. Probably almost dinnertime._

The man continued to stare, all his attention on this one, small luxury.

_ I think I managed to move it last time, let me try again._

He moved his hand out again, focusing all his attention on the small piece sitting on his wooden chessboard, the one thing he was allowed to have in the cell. The pieces, not fashioned of clay like most pieces, were made of cool, black metal. The last thing his captors wanted was for him to get ideas.

_ Come on, move you gods-forsaken piece! _His mind screamed as he poured all of his focus and emotion into the effort. As he did, all the memories flooded to the top of his mind, enraging him.

The prisoner, in his meditation, began to recall the words of his long-dead father. "**Anything can be achieved by you, my son. You just need to focus, channel your wisdom and gifts." **His father had lived that his entire life. As a lowly merchant, he had clawed his way up from a simple shop to a spread of various stores throughout the Middle Ring. He had invested wisely, seeing smart choices and winning bets, sensing them the same way his son could sense the vibrations of the earth itself.

On his death, the man's son worked quickly and efficiently to solidify his newly gained business. His father had taught him everything he needed to know, and within months he was considered one of the wealthiest men in Ba-Sing-Se. He quickly used his power to get in the good graces of the Earth King, advising the ancient man throughout his final years. He had watched over and mentored his son, an impressionable and innocent young man, convincing him that all was right in the world. He quickly gained leadership of the royal guard, easily advancing himself and shifting control away from the king. The naïve fool hadn't suspected a thing, all too willingly letting his chief advisor seize the power of the kingdom, becoming a mere figurehead, a puppet ruler. He quickly was able to silence the rumors of war spreading throughout the Outer Ring, He preserved his society, his utopia. Those fools of the Fire Nation could never break through his walls, and the one man who tried lost the only family he had left in the process.

_ The one thing I couldn't count on was the Avatar._ He thought bitterly as he poured even more focus into his outstretched hand, attempting to do what none of his kind had been able to do for all of recorded history. _That little brat and his friends have, within weeks, completely dismantled everything I fought to achieve for years. They broke the hold I had on the king, and I was thrown into the dungeon for it. After everything I've done for that fool! That sad, sorry excuse of a king. _

_ And then that girl and her friends had shown up, disguised as allies of the Kingdom. My men learned quickly their true identities, however. _

_ I brought her here, the young, arrogant bitch. I made her an offer, but she had been playing me from the start. She knew exactly what to do to turn my own men against me, and it worked perfectly. But she'll see, I'll figure this out, like I have everything in my life. I'll work my way back up and retake what is mine. The self-serving wench is gone, she left some fat, stupid general in charge. He's squandering it, all of it, everything I have worked so hard to preserve is in jeopardy! I have to get out of this cell, I have to try and salvage what I can and rise again._

_ The Betrayer, the people call me. That is the name I've been given for my crimes. In truth, they see it only fitting that I'm rotting in this cell beneath the palace for what I've done, bringing these tyrants into my beautiful city. The Impenetrable City had finally been broken through, but it will yet rise again, I will see to that. _

At this point, he began to notice the piece, slide slowly across the board, falling off the far end. He smirked, knowing he had broken down a barrier no earthbender had been able to break, despite countless attempts over the last century. _So, my plan begins to fall into place,_ the prisoner thought smugly. _Soon, this city will once again be mine, and the Fire Nation will be cleansed from it, leaving me to rebuild my utopia. All will fall beneath me, Long Feng, King of Ba-Sing-Se, the first earthbender to cause even metal to fall to my will! _He then flicked his wrist, pulling the queen back up onto the board. Then, with all his concentration, he spread both hands out, moving all the pieces back into place. _Soon, _he thought, hearing the guard walking down the hall, carrying his evening meal. S_oon._


	2. The Escape

"Alright, traitor, enjoy your lunch," shouted the Fire Nation soldier. "Such a waste. Its not like anyone would care if you starved down here." He was tired of this useless guard detail, the endless, tedious hours spent guarding this one prisoner, who's own cells prevented his escape.

"What, not gonna talk today, huh?" the guard asked angrily. The prisoner usually had a quip or snappy retort when it came mealtime, it was unusual for him to be this quiet. "You awake in there, you rock-slinging savage?" The guard peered through the slot in the door, and his eyes grew wide.

He was then slammed against the far wall as the door blew off its hinges.

Long Feng stepped out of his cell, glaring at the body of the crushed guard. "Yes, in fact Ive been waiting for you all day, fool."

In the light, Long Feng looked the worse for wear after his long stint in the cells. His hair had gotten longer, bugs had obviously been crawling through it from its appearance. He had become gaunt, his body losing its tone and his skin losing most of its color due to the dark and cramped nature of the cell. But he still held himself the same way he had a month ago, when he was the true ruler of this city. His body moved with obvious grace as he quickly bended a ramp into the wall, leading him up to a service hallway at the back of the palace from which he could make his escape, sealing the wall back up as he went.

_Lets see, Ill have about 10 minutes before the body is found, by then I should be away from here and into my hiding spot. I just need to stick to these service hallways and I shouldn't be missed. _

As he ran, he despised his decision to remake the prison in such a fashion to hold prisoners who could bend.

_If it wasn't for that 6 inch sheet of metal buried a few feet under the ground, I could make my escape with ease. I know I have limited control over most metal, but I wouldn't hinge my plan on being lucky enough to push through such a large quantity of it at once._

He knew his refuge had to be secure, allowing him access to the city when it was required but hidden enough that the enemy could not easily seek him out. A few places had flashed quickly into his mind, but one among them seemed the safest.

_Although the Dai Li are aware of it, most of them have left the city with Azula as her personal guard, the slime._ _I just hope the brat didn't bother to mention it to her pet general, otherwise I could be in trouble. Well, even if she did, he doesn't have any earthbenders under his direct control, and any he might be able to sway or force I should be able to counter with ease. The less experienced Dai Li were the ones left behind, and most of them were recruited after the fall of the city, so they probably won't know of it. _

He pushed these thoughts aside, focusing on where he was and how much longer he had. They'll_ find the body any minute now, and I'm about halfway there right now, I'll need to pick up the pace._

He began to dash quickly through the narrow halls, his eyes more alert now to compensate for his abandoning of cautious movement.

"Where is my dinner?" General Suian screamed, startling the servants gathered around the throne room. "It should have been here after I got back from touring the Wall!"

"Sir," one of his aides said nervously, obviously afraid he'd face the full force of his commander's wrath for reporting the bad news. "One of the major cooks is out sick today, and it will take some time to get the food finished without him."

"Dammit!" the man on the throne screamed, shooting a gout of flame, sending it flying to dig a deep gash into one of the pillars placed throughout the room. "MY food should have been done already! To hell with these barbarians and their pathetic city!" The man, furious now beyond reason, quickly got p and stomped from the room, headed in the direction of the cells. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the cells having my fun with the barbarian traitor."

"WHAT?!?!" Suian screamed at the group of guards surrounding the prison doors. "What do you mean the savage has escaped! He was in the most tightly guarded cell in the entire palace with no way out but this door and nothing but a chessboard at his disposal! YOU FOOLS!" With this, he sent a fire whip into the guards, knocking them out of the way and into the wall. "GUARDS!! The prisoner has escaped! Sound the alarms!" He boomed, charging down the hall to rally his men, leaving behind him the smell of burnt leather and sizzling flesh.

_Dammit._ Long Feng thought, hearing the alarms sound as he darted down another hallway.

"There he goes men! After him!" a sergeant screamed, pointing at him as a group of soldiers rounded the corner in front of him.

_Dammit._ Long Feng thought quickly, easily maneuvering down a side passageway. _This way will lead to a bunch of supply rooms, perfect spot to lose these simpletons._ As he kept moving, he heard the soldiers giving chase behind him. "Quickly, quickly! Suian will have our heads if we let him get away!"

Long Feng quickly turnedinto a dead end hallway, sprinting through a doorway and collapsing in the back corner of one of the storage rooms, gasping heavily.

"I saw him head this way!" he heard one of the soldiers shout behind him, leading the rest of his squad into the hallway and into the doorway of the room.

The soldiers quickly spread out, moving through the aisles of foodstuffs and equipment.

Long Feng swiftly encased the feet of one of the troops, causing him to crash into the shelving next to him. This, of course, drew the squads attention to the falling supplies, causing them to make quite a bit of noise and turmoil amongst themselves while Long Fang stealthily slid down the other side of the room, making it through the door just as the Fire Nation sergeant caught a glimpse of him.

"There he goes!" the man screamed as Long Feng quickly turned around and sealed the doorway with a slab of rock, never breaking stride.

_They know I'm loose at this point, so there's no reason to keep to these service hallways, where they'll expect me to be. _Long Feng mulled as he darted from one hall way to the next, the quick pace beginning to wear on the middle-aged man. _The quickest way from here is through the main hallway, and I bet that most of the guards will have gone searching for me elsewhere, allowing me to pass through unseen. _

He quickly turned down a side corridor, avoiding the wandering eyes of a patrol at the intersection ahead of him. With his knowledge of the palace's winding passages and rooms, he quickly mapped out and went along an alternate route to the main hall. As he made his way, a thought nagged at the back of his head. _Ive only seen about a dozen squads of troops so far, including the larger one I trapped before. I would think I'd be seeing more of them if they're really as concerned with my capture as they should be. _

He pushed the though aside, continuing to move subtly through the hallways on his way to freedom.

"Sir, we've turned the service areas upside-down searching for him, so far the only sighting was by Sergeant Ming's squad who was trapped in one of the storerooms here. We got them out, and they said that he looked as if he was headed towards the rear servant's entrance." The captain reported to Suian, sitting across from him and pointing to a map of the palace spread across the table, pointing to a number of small openings at the back and sides of the palace. "So far, we've sealed of these exits, we've placed two platoons at each, while keeping the bulk of our soldiers focused in these service corridors, with patrols at every major intersection and guarding key staircases and entrances into the main rooms of the palace. If he tries to get to any of the nobles residing in the palace, be they Fire Nation royalty he tries to take as hostages, or," he chuckled softly, "any of our Earth Kingdom 'hosts', attempting to work out a sort of deal or alliance, we'll know."

"Agni damn this crafty savage!" Suian said , slamming his fist on the table, spilling his goblet over the side. "The princess should have listened to my advice and had him clamped in irons in his cell." _It was strange_, he thought. S_he normally listens to my advice. _S_he even called me her most treasured instrument before she left, proclaiming me governor of Sozin's Jewel, the new symbol of Fire Nation supremacy in the Earth Kingdom. Well, enough of that, there is more pressing business to attend to, it was probably just more of Azula's flirting and flattering anyway, I know how she feels about me, despite her clever sttempts at hiding it._

_But when I even suggested tighter safety measures on this man, she simply said "__**No, I think we'll let the weight of his own guilt keep him in his cell for now. Besides, its no fun to keep prisoners in constant pain, otherwise they can't brood on their actions and hate themselves for it."**__ I still don't understand, how can there be any better way of torturing than to keep your prey writhing in agony as you watch, smiling as they squirm?_

"Wait a minute, what about this spot here?" the general said, snapping his mind back into the here and now, pointing at a small area connecting the serviceways into the main hall.

"That? Oh. That was sealed up ages ago, as far as we can tell it was planned in the original construction, but got sealed shut by one of the Barbarian Kings decades, maybe even centuries, ago. There's nothing there but solid wall, its of no concern, my general."

"No, that's it." Suian murmured, a slight tinge of irritation in his speech."I want a company of soldiers and a squad of our best firebenders to surround that spot in Semi-circle formation. He'll be coming through there and get behind us, overwhelm the guards at the main door and escape." He looked at the captain, who now had a questioning look on his face. "What are you waiting for? Go!" he shouted. "Gather the men I asked for, I'll meet them there." He smirked and began to don his armor as the captain saluted sharply and quickly marched from the room to assemble the men.

_My instincts have never failed me before. We'll get him._ Suian thought, then a smile spread across his young face. _In fact, I may just have some fun before we capture him._

Long Feng dodged the gout of flame as it flew past his head, feeling the heat wash over his face.

_Damn these firebenders! I'm almost there, and they spot me making my way across that last intersection, simply walking along like a damn stupid bird! _

Long Feng's thoughts were turned back toward the present as he turned around and shot an earth wave at his pursuers, causing them to fall over as he rounded the final corner. Here he stopped and felt along the wall.

_It should be around here somewhere, I remember using it now and again to gain quick access to the main parts of the palace._ With his hand, he reached into the wall with his earthbending, feeling for the inconsistencies in the wall. _Ah, there we are!_ His mind focused into this one hand, preparing to open the way.

"Quick, get him!" Long Feng turned to see the firebenders who were chasing him round the corner.

Acting quickly, Long Feng caused a section of the wall to slide down, quickly turning and sending one last shockwave at the benders then moving backwards through the opening, closing it swiftly so they couldn't follow behind. Then he let out a long breath he didn't even realize he was still holding in. "Finally, I'm free."

"Not quite, savage."

Long Feng turned quickly, to see himself surrounded by nearly 300 men, about 20 of them in firebending stances, ready to fry him if he moved.

The middle group parted, and a broad shouldered, tall man looking to be in his late teens or early twenties walked out to face him, mirth showing behind his golden eyes.

"I must say Long Feng, you gave my men quite a chase. But sadly, the hunt ends here. Its a pity, really. You're good, but I'm just naturally better.

"At ease, men. Firebenders, stay ready to fire on my mark. 5,

4,

3,

2,"

Long Feng rolled his eyes. "Oh please."

"1!"

Long Feng jumped, dodging the flames as his feet slammed down on the floor, sending out a huge wave, the earth quickly knocking the soldiers over.

"Farewell, Suian, and thank you for your hospitality. I only hope to return the favor soon."

Long Feng then moved his hands above his head, making a small jump, bringing his feet together, and landing again, his body slowly passing through the floor of the palace, leaving no sign of his mysterious departure as Suian stood up, his rage evident as he tilted his head back and roared, a huge cloud of fire and smoke pouring from his mouth.


	3. The Plan

**A/N: Sorry its been so long, been busy with school and stuff(and my Beta wouldn't Beta it...grr). Well, here's Chap 3, have fun!**

**Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Avatar, its too well written and non-Zukocentric **

Long Feng finally reemerged from the ground, gulping down the fresh air greedily as he barely managed to keep his balance.

After catching his breath, he took a few moments to take in his surroundings. He was in an old warehouse on the far side of the Middle Ring. It was, in fact, his own warehouse. He had it built years ago as a storehouse for various goods he had shipped in from villages within the Outer Wall and the outskirts of Ba Sing Sei. Now, since he had long ago left his business in capable hands while he advised the king, it had become one of many such buildings throughout the crowded city.

_Well, so far so good_ he thought to himself. _The escape was a little closer than I had hoped for. I'm going to need to step up my plans if I want to stay alive and out of the clutches of my former captor. _

He then began to search through a few of the crates lining the walls, looking for anything he might be able to use to help disguise himself. _If I recall, I mostly used this for clothing and furniture storage, so there should be something I can use here if things haven't changed drastically since I last checked with my associates._

After turning a few crates of pillows over and rooting through crates of fancy, well-tailored clothing, he finally found an outfit that would at least allow for him to pass for an upper-middle class citizen, along with a wide, straw hat. He quickly tore himself out of his tattered dress robes and changed into the street clothes, then slowly opened the large, wooden doors at the far end of the warehouse, and swiftly melded into the traffic of one of the city's main thoroughfares, headed back in the direction of the Upper Ring.

"So, General, what can I help you with...exactly?" Said Peng as he took the teapot off of the small burner inlaid in the table and carefully poured the tea into 2 cups, one for Suian and one for himself.

Suian picked up the cup and took a large gulp of it, the scalding liquid not phasing him at all as it poured down his throat. The youth, in his finest military dress, was sitting down across from the elderly Peng on a stone couch covered in soft, luxurious furs and pillows, his helmet resting next to him on his right while his aide, Major Zhong, stood on his left.

Suian took a moment to look over Peng. Peng bore the title of Lord, something granted to him by the last Earth King due to his vast influence over trade and commerce within the city. All in all, he wasn't very impressive looking. He had a long, wispy gray beard and mustache, his scalp having lost its hair long ago. Suian marked him in his late seventies to mid eighties, impressive considering his barbarian heritage. _Then again, they are said to live a long time. Must be that their savagery fuels their heart to keep on pumping so they can continue to pound each other to dust. Yes, that must be it. Regardless, he is old, even by these people's standards, and far too frail to pose a significant threat. No, the old man will, no doubt, simply keep his head down and his mouth shut, just wanting to be left __alone._

"Well, as you may have heard, a certain prisoner escaped from the palace late last night," Suian began, smirking slightly in an attempt to control his anger at the memory of those events. "I, having learned about his past from my various agents in the city, thought that this would be a good place to begin, given your shared history."

"Ah, I understand." Peng replied as he slowly brought his cup to his lips. "Well, I can honestly tell you that I have not had any contact with Long Feng in roughly 3 months. Once he became the former king's chief advisor, it was obvious that it would be difficult for him to oversee the day-to-day operations of the businesses that he expanded upon from his father's holdings. So he left them to me, on the grounds that I was someone he knew he could trust and on the condition that he would have the final say on any major decisions and would be present at the meetings of the various owners and major executives. In recent months, various matters of state drew his focus, and he has not been able to participate even on an administrative level. And, given the recent power shift within the city and his subsequent imprisonment, he has, as you can imagine, been even less able." He chuckled at this last bit, and took a small sip of the jasmine tea, placing his cup back on the polished marble table.

"Hmm, I see," Suian murmured, not really focusing on the words of the aged caretaker, his attention being drawn to the odd rustling of one of the curtains lining the side of the room. _Hmm, the balcony is open, but the wind is blowing in the opposite direction. That's unusual. _He shook it from his thoughts and went back to the task at hand.

"Well, I completely believe you, Lord Peng. You have been nothing but compliant with our forces and helpful in our attempts to smooth our relations with the local lords and nobility," Suian calmly responded, not failing to notice how the curtain continued to shift, almost too subtle to notice.

Having finished his tea, the youth and elder stood, the former tucking his helmet under his arm as he politely bowed. "Alright Major, we have no further business here. I am sure that you will be certain to let us know if you have any contact with our mutual friend, my Lord?"

Peng simply smiled. "Of course, General Suian. I would have no reason to act otherwise. You do, after all, control the fate of every life within Sozin's Jewel." He put emphasis on the last two words, making his acceptance of the Fire Nation's control over the mighty city perfectly clear. "Good luck in your search. I only hope this matter can be solved quickly and with minimal loss of life."

"As do I," Suian concluded as he began to move towards the front door.

On his way out, he turned sharply and threw aside the curtain, exposing nothing but the bare rock wall behind it.

"...Is something wrong, General?" Zhong inquired as he observed the odd look on his commander's face.

"No...no, of course not!" Suian snapped, now out of earshot of the elderly Peng. "Come major, we must continue our hunt for this barbarian before he manages to slip through our fingers again."

They quickly exited through the extravagant doors, the general climbing up onto his War Rhino, a large, highly muscular specimen with almost black skin and dressed in gleaming crimson armor. His aide followed suit on his own, less extravagant mount. Suian quickly turned to him and said "go to the edge of the Upper and Middle rings, be certain the guards there are alert and are check the passes of every citizen that passes through. I am going to head back to the palace and question these Dai Li agents. The Princess seemed satisfied with them, but I need to be sure they didn't somehow have a hand in this." With that, he shouted and his mount began to charge down the road towards the main street back to the Palace, while his aide's mount turned and headed the opposite way, back towards the small dividing wall between the Upper and Middle Rings.

Peng, having heard the main door close, slowly turned to the stone wall on his left and simply stated: "You can come out now, old friend."

With that, Long Feng emerged from the stone, once again doubling over and gasping for breath.

"You're lucky I taught you such a useful trick, my pupil, otherwise you would have been caught when you were stuck behind that curtain."

"Believe it...or not...that's the...second time...that its saved me today." Long Feng said between gasps, finally managing to catch his breath. "Aren't you curious how I managed to get inside?"

"Simple, you used the complex tunnel network that crisscrosses under parts of the upper city, Earthbended your way up into the garden, used more earthbending to scale the side of the mansion up to the balcony, and, once you got inside, realized that the general had just knocked on the door and carefully hid behind the curtain. Once you came to the conclusion he was about to leave, you went into the wall to avoid being caught as he walked past. Quite impressive, but I would expect more from you. You must be slipping in your old age." Peng smirked at this, looking Long Feng up and down. "You look terrible."

"Oh, don't start, ancient one" Long Feng replied, chuckling softly. "Now, are you so senile you forget to offer your guests tea, or am I just a special case?" 

"Ah yes, of course." Peng nodded, waving Long Feng to the couch Suian had occupied not ten minutes ago. "And, while we enjoy this tea, do you intend to outline your plan for retaking our beautiful city from the Fire Princess' pet general?"

"I was planning on it, yes," Long Feng responded. "But then I heard how close you and our "mutual friend" Suian seem to be and wonder if it is wise to trust you. After all, you do seem to enjoy the way the name Sozin's Jewel rolled off your tongue."

"Merely acting and manipulation, my young student." Peng replied smoothly. "Maybe if you were better at those yourself, or at seeing them in others, we wouldn't need to have this conversation, and Azula would be the one in the cells instead of you."

At this, Long Feng stood and looked angrily down at his aged caretaker. "Don't EVER use that name in my presence." he replied, not able to completely control the anger in his tone. "Now, would you care to listen to my plan, or should I just leave now, before you call your newfound friends down on me and I get reacquainted with that damn cell I've been rotting in for 2 weeks?!"

"Calm yourself, Long Feng. You know I only jest." Peng chortled, loving the reaction he could still get from Long Feng after all these years. It had been the same since he was a mere teenager, when Peng had simply been his father's business partner, brought in to help Long Feng manage his newfound talent for bending the dirt and stone. "Now, how about you start with how you managed to escape those craftily built cells of yours? As you described them, they would be impossible to break out of without extraordinary talent or a bit of outside help. I know you did not have the latter, and I would think the amount of skill required to escape would be beyond even you."

"I will show you, watch." Long Feng replied as he reached into his tunic and held out his hand, showing Peng 3 simple metal chess pieces, a knight, a pawn, and a rook.

"Hmm, do they, perhaps, contain a key to your cell?" Peng inquired, looking at the pieces, still skeptical.

"No, old fool, just watch." Long Feng simply clenched his fist around the pieces, then unclenched. Now, in his hand he held a perfect half-sphere of metal, which he let fall to the table with a loud clatter.

Peng simply stared for a moment, his mouth opening and closing several times as he attempted to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

"What, nothing to say, Sifu Peng?" Long Feng smirked, leaning back onto the couch as he watched his caretaker and mentor's reaction to his newfound talent. "Of course, it isn't as elegant a form as I would like to be, yet" he added. "But, it was enough to get myself out of a trap I never expected myself to be in. After I regain control of Ba Sing Sei, remind me to build a way out of those cells in case I ever find myself there again."

"Long Feng, my student, this is..." Peng waved his hand at the lump on the table "Unbelievable! I mean, no Earthbender has been able to do this since, since..."

"Since the time of Avatar Kyoshi, the most accomplished earthbender as well as the oldest and, quite arguably, the most skilled Avatar to have ever lived. It is said she taught some of the original Dai Li the talent, although none of them truly managed anything beyond what I have produced here." He gestured to the simple dome of iron. "Of course, that's not the full extent of my ability, I crushed the hinges on my cell door and blew it across the room, crushing a poor fire nation bastard with it." 

"Oh!" Peng said, eyes wide in amazement. "That you manged even THIS much without someone to teach you is astounding! I mean, this art has been lost for nearly 500 years, and you, my star pupil, were the one to rediscover it! I knew you had talent, even when I first met you, but this..." Peng trailed off, still having trouble believing what was right in front of him.

"Well, Peng, we must not dawdle on this, as remarkable as it may be." Long Feng continued, now pacing through the room, "We need to discuss my intentions and plans from here on in. Now, you seem to be in close with the good General" Long Feng gestured towards the Palace at this, "be sure and keep it that way. There's no reason for you to alienate yourself and potentially harm all our holdings just because of a mere disagreement with a simpleton like Suian. Be sure and assist him in my capture any way you can, just don't actually lead him to me. I'll be hiding somewhere I doubt anyone, even these new 'Dai Li', will be able to find me."

"And where, my Metalbending prodigy, would that be?" Peng inquired, finally snapping out of his shock at what he had witnessed Long Feng do.

"Do you remember me mentioning a certain underwater fortress at Lake Laogai?" Long Feng inquired.

"Yes, and I also remember you saying, in a brief meeting before you were imprisoned by your beloved puppet king that you destroyed it before the Avatar and his friends could expose it."

"Well, I did destroy it, but I went and rebuilt a considerably large piece of it near the heart of the lake, without the Dai Li's knowledge. I intend to rebuild a few more select parts of it, and plan from there."

"Oh, good plan" Peng replied. "And what do you intend to do with that? Just wait out the Fire Nation? Putting a lot of faith in your adversary Avatar Aang, aren't you?"

"No, of course not." Long Feng waved him off, focusing again. "When I used..._her_" he spat this last word, lacing it with all the bile he could manage, "to try and retake the city, the Earth King's generals were kind enough to impart me with a piece of information: the date of a solar eclipse. It is on this day, the Day of Black Sun, as they call it, that I intend to strike."

"Hmm" Peng contemplated this. "You ARE aware that these eclipses last for a span of mere minutes, right?"

"Of course, of course." Long Feng muttered. "That, is where YOU come in, my old friend. While you make nice with dear Suian, you will use your influence and wealth in the city to slowly spread dissent amongst the citizens. We own storefronts and shops throughout all the rings, it should be easy to artificially raise prices, blame it on tariffs set down by the Fire Nation, restrict amounts of our more luxurious items as well. We have a lot of pull in the upper levels of society, at least on the Earth Kingdom side. Try and convince some of our business partners and rivals to do the same with their stores, they can't like the occupation of our beautiful utopia any more than us. You see where I'm going with this?"

"Yes, yes...I see." Peng contemplated, "You really ought to keep the rest to yourself, in case a certain General doesn't exactly buy my ruse. I can fill in the gaps on my own, but if I don't know for certain...well, I can't divulge information I don't know, can I?"

Long Feng thought about this. "Hmm, you're right, I'll fill you in more once you set this in motion." he said as he moved to the balcony, the sun already beginning to set in the western sky.

"Where are you going?" Peng questioned. "The tunnels that way will just lead into the main Chambers of Old Ba Sing Sei, under the Palace. You will have to go out of the city on foot or make your own tunnels to get to Lake Laogai."

"I know that, Ancient." Long Feng smirked. "There is someone else I must see first, someone whose cooperation is almost as important as yours." With that he jumped off the balcony, once again gliding smoothly through the earth, into the tunnels of the Old City.

"Alright, that will be all for now." Suian called, the new Dai Li lined up in front of him. "Lieutenant Rang." He called to the agent standing in the front. "You may take command again, I have pressing matters to attend to." As Suian left, Rang heard him mutter "Damn rock-tossing savages", and it took all of his discipline not to crush Suian right then and there.

The most distinguishing feature about Rang was his size. While most Earthbenders were large and muscular, Rang was on the high end of even that, standing around 6'10", and the casual observer could tell just by looking that he was well muscled, despite the loose fitting Dai Li uniform he wore.

At the age of merely nineteen, Rang was the only senior member of the Dai Li still left in Ba Sing Sei, the others having departed with the Prince and Princess weeks ago. Of those original forty or so, Rang was one of only five or six that wondered if they had done the right thing, turning against Long Feng. After seeing how Suian treated the Earth Kingdom citizenry and the Earthbenders under his command, Rang knew that this had been a bad move. He also knew it would be foolish to try and take on the Fire Nation occupation on his own, he still couldn't be sure of these raw recruits he'd been put in charge of, there was still a lot of weeding out to do to get the maximum fifty that Suian would allow, not that he saw them as a threat anyway.

"Alright men, we're done for the day, get some food and get on home. We have a big day ahead tomorrow."

"Um, sir?"

Rang turned and looked at the individual who had spoken up. _What was his name again? Sha? Yeah, Sha. _"Yes, Corporal Sha?"

Sha, having been recognized, spoke nervously. He had never been good at speaking in front of others. "Um, is it, uh, true that The Betray- I mean, Long Feng, broke out last night?"

At this, Rang merely stared. _How did Sha hear about that? I had only heard the rumors, but I knew they wouldn't hold him forever._

"You are all dismissed" Rang said, not even answering Sha's question.

After they had all gone, Rang began walking through the Palace to his room in the underground barracks. Since he was an officer and in charge of the Earth Kingdom Royal Guard, Suian let him keep a decent-sized room here, more for the purposes of not alienating the Earth Kingdom nobles entirely than any measure of real respect.

Once he got inside, he left the door open and sat on the bed as he took off his robe and slid into a loose fitting tunic. He then got up and went to shut the door, and, upon doing so, turned to see a figure standing at the back of the room, the glow of the green crystals embedded in the walls illuminating his face.

"Sargeant Rang," Long Feng said calmly, staring straight into his eyes. "I have an offer for you" he smiled slightly at this, "and I don't think you'll want to refuse."


End file.
